Family
by SolitaryPerfectionist
Summary: After all, Family isn't limited to blood, is it?
1. Cassandra Cillian Part I

Cassandra Cillian was a happy.

Her grades were always perfect. Her parents were always so proud of her. Her father used to take her fishing. He used to pick her up and twirl her around, He used to laugh as she giggled in his arms. Her mother used to wake her up every morning with an extravagant breakfast. She used to hug her whenever she could. She would help her put on bright sundresses that matched her own. She didn't have a great deal of friends, but the few that she did were fond of her. Really, everything was good. The world seemed like it would never run out of smiles and warmth. Cassandra Cillian, the sweet summer child, was always very happy.

Then she got hit by a tumor.

It happened so fast, so suddenly, she barely registered it. But she was forced to notice it in manners most cruel.

The summers she had always grown so fond of had turned cold and bitter. _Everything_ did.

First to leave were her friends. When they heard of her illness, they bluntly abandoned her. Telling her the couldn't afford to hang around someone who was at constant risk of dying. To Cassandra, it wasn't that much of a bother.

Her father? Thrown so far into his work he barely recalled having a daughter. He was barely seen at the house she been so enamored with. When he did, he was drunk. He reeked of alcohol. He ranted and raved until he passed out. That was the end of fishing boats and laughter.

Still, Cassandra endured. She convinced herself that it could be worst. She began to lean towards her mother. She desperately reached her hound out. For some time, it worked

Then her mother left her. She made use of her her degree as a journalist, and became a reporter. She made many friends. She barely thought of her sweet little daughter, who had a death sentence hanging over her head. That was the end of matching sundresses and hugs.

Cassandra endured. She worked harder in school, participated in so many competitions (which was a melodramatic lie, she really _was_ quite good at math), she could barely count them all. She won trophies, medals, certificates, and scholarships.

That was gone too, one day. In a rarely shown, misguided display of affection, her mother decided her winnings would be too depressing to look at, due to her tumor. She was promptly pulled out of school, and attended high school from her bedroom. That was the end of her excellence.

For nights on end, she cried herself to sleep. She mourned for her old life. She yearned for it. She loathed it.

For a time, she turned angry, depressed, and bitter. Gone were her days of sundresses, gone were her lovable sweaters. She began wearing solid black. Black skirt over black leggings, black jackets over black shirts.

If she were to meet her executioner soon, she may as well dress like it.

She got a letter from a library, inviting her for a job. Instead, she was in the hospital. Then, she decided to work there. Becoming a part time janitor, part time manic-depressed neglected daughter.

Then popped in two complete strangers. One was a tall, blonde haired woman, who looked like she could take apart an average wrestler in three seconds or less. The other was a eccentric, quirky man, dressed like an explorer, who looked like he could be having the worst day of his life and still keep smiling.

He spoke six words. Six words that he would never know how much they meant to her. Only six words, to change her life forever.

"You need to come with us."

Depending on perspective, things could have gone very downhill, or things could have been changed for the better.

To Cassandra, _everything_ became _so much_ better.

That day, she went home to her room, to the very back of her closet, and pulled out something she thought she'd never take out again.

It was a simple outfit really: a cream-colored sweater, a floral shirt, and an orange skirt.

She met two more strangers. A charming cowboy with an extensive art-history background and a high-level IQ, and a world-class Australian thief.

Time passed almost to quickly for her liking, but she knew she was on the best adventure in her life.

They were brought into probably the biggest library ever built, discovered magic was real, found the crown of King Arthur, fought the Minotaur, recovered Ariande's thread, met dragons. They even robbed the Royal Family, and broke into Vatican. She supposed the White House was next, but perhaps that was just wishful thinking.

Ezekiel was a witty fellow by nature. He was charming in his own sort of way. He was funny, smart, and devious. He was always the first to bail, but _never_ when it mattered. She knew that his solitary nature was slowly crumbling. Ezekiel cared about their little group. He was like a brother to her.

Jake was a little rougher around the edges, but then again, everyone was. He was distrusting, skeptical, but he had a heart of gold. He had willed himself to look past her betrayal and in doing so, she hoped he had found a friend in her. Sure, he, Ezekiel, and herself would always bicker, but in the end they were inseparable.

She met a cynical old man (she suspected him to be much older than he looked), named Jenkins. He was their mentor, and really the brains behind the group. Well. _More_ of the brains. She grew fond of his grumpy attitude, and caught him smiling at the team's antics more than once. It was decided, she liked Jenkins.

Then there was Eve Baird. When they first met, Eve was an intimidating woman. She _still_ was an intimidating woman. With a truly impressive background as a terrorist-hunter, she had every right to be. It was fitting that the library chose her, of all people, to be their guardian. She showed them all affection in very strange ways, mostly including (but not limited to), grabbing, pushing, shoving, smacking, manhandling, and her signature, occasional tough-strong hug. She stuck up for all of them. Really, it was like having a mother all over again.

Finally, there was Flynn. By far the most eccentric, or "Weird" as Eve decided, of the group. He called their group his band of "LiT's" and if she were honest with herself, she found it a an honor. Flynn was just like what she wanted her father to be. In the moment when he was dying, after she had betrayed him and his life's pride and joy, he attempted to save her life. He wrapped her in tight hugs and spun her around, just like her father used to. It was like she was living her childhood all over. Except with a great deal of magic, evil brotherhoods, apocalyptic disasters, and of course, lots and lots of danger.

Each one of them had they're own clever little quirks, but at the end of the day, they were the best people she ever met.

But aside from adventure, thrills, and saving the world, she found something else.

She found a family.

Cassandra wiped a stray tear from her eye as she thought about what became of her life.

She loved every second of it. Even all the moments that she could have died.

Her whole life she had lived in fear of dying. Dying with regrets, or dying unsatisfied.

But now, now when the probability of her death was at it's highest, she felt the happiest.

If it were to end tomorrow, not a moment would she lament, not a second would she change.

Cassandra Cillian was happy.

She skipped around the cluttered main room of the Annex with a plate of cake in her hand, admiring it. The place where so many good memories were. Some in the past, but many more in the future.

She she smiled.

Cassandra Cillian was happy.

And in the end, that's all that mattered.


	2. Ezekiel Jones Part I

Ezekiel considered himself a man of simplicity. No, he didn't mean stupid, he was just...practical. He was a realist. A person who believed in playing a game for himself, and not for the game's own sake. He wasn't one to lay down his life for something.

Conceived by a woman on accident, and then being unwanted left him as an orphan. He didn't have parents, or really _anyone_ to tell him right from wrong. Except for one lousy, grumpy, _old_ matron, who often caned him and other children if they were too loud. In other words, not the ideal parental figure in any way, shape or form, whatsoever.

It was there he learned the importance of self preservation. Which consequently resulted in him having to transfer orphanages repeatedly. Regardless, he continued to do what he had to in order to get by. His devious nature also drove away any families looking to adopt. He continued to cycle through orphanages, and by the time he was 9, he knew every single orphanage in the country

It was there he learned what would soon become his profession, his main skill, his talent, and before he knew it, his personal form of _art._ The craft of thieving. He started out small. Food scraps, as he was never fed enough. Something to do with the "tiny ones" needing less to eat (he already knew it was because he was the least favored child). Then it grew to small objects. Wooden toys, metal scraps, books, pens, and anything small enough for him to slip into his pocket and vanish. He had always favored the story of Robin Hood. When he was old enough to be allowed out of the orphanage, he began stealing loose change. Only from the well-off, somewhat pretentious people. He was even kind enough to share his burgled treasure with the truly unfortunate beggars, and homeless, mainly to satisfy his idolization of Robin. Only one woman had ever caught him, and when she did, she never said a thing.

He was a thief, and a prodigious one at that. But a thief with a morals. He was not cruel, nor greedy. He was a good thief. New orphans flowed through the doors. They were shy and scared, some more than others. He began telling them jokes, stealing small things, like cookies or toys for them. He occasionally went out and with stolen money, got them ice cream. Though he would deny it vehemently, he even sang a small group of boys and girls to sleep. He grew close with them, becoming like an older brother. Always looking out for them, and always supporting them. Another thing he would deny to even himself, is the feeling as though a piece of him died, every time one of his band of little siblings left the orphanage with a family. Never to be seen by him again.

Surprisingly, a day came that he never had expected. He knew the process well enough, he had seen it happen countless times. A matron would come go into a room, clipboard (One that he could always steal an memorize, but he preferred never to think of) in one hand, and a kids arm in the other. The process that left him with one less ball of joy. Only this time, it was his arm. Well not really. The lady didn't dare hold his hand. Or touch him in general. She was far too afraid of something of hers going _missing_.

He was 12 when someone finally adopted him. If he had a mirror, he would have seen his entire face drain of any color, looking paler than a dead man. Because he was being adopted by the same (and the only) woman who had caught him "in the act" She was a rather tall woman with dark hair, her signature black eyeliner and red lipstick. He assumed she was a gypsy. It was a half-hearted guess with no real thought put into it, but it was _there_. She flashed him a toothy grin he would never forget in his life. With a twinkle in her eye, she told him she saw something great in him.. She then walked past an ice cream vendor, and after merely asking, held two large sundae's in either hand. Ezekiel then decided that regardless of whoever this crazy woman was, or wherever she came from, she was _officially_ the coolest person he ever met.

That was the start of one exciting journey, that involved many stolen passports, plane tickets, occasional priceless art, priceless artifacts, priceless scriptures, and Robin Hood-ing to epic proportions. She taught him a lot, not just about stealing. She said she once met a man in Romania who claimed to be a "Student of Learning" and ever since then, she developed an insatiable desire for knowledge. Ezekiel never really picked up too much of it, but whatever he got he appreciated. Not to mention he had mad respect for her, and her ability to go through books. It really was _quite_ useful to live with a fun-loving, thrill-seeking, walking encyclopedia who enjoyed doing things of questionable legality at the very least in her free time. She also spoke of a a mythical library containing books of all kinds, and artifacts thought to be impossible. He never thought too deeply into it, but still, it sounded pretty cool.

Before he knew it, 5 years passed by, and not a single time did he ever consider asking her name. That was until she told him. He remembered the day quite clearly. He was gaping like a fish in the run down motel they were staying at, when the woman he only referred to as "Mum' told him she was runaway Royalty. She laughed at him and ruffled his hair, when he asked her why she became... _what she was._

"For the adventure, my dear Ezekiel, for the adventure."

That was her answer. They carried along, doing what they always did. Until one day, when she decided she had put off the inevitable for long enough. A tearful goodbye later, she was off to her home, to take on whatever responsibilities she had, and he was off to America, still a humble thief only with a promise to visit some sort princess, or queen (he didn't really pay attention to specifics, as he was to busy gaping over the fact that _his mother was royalty)_ and pretend not to know her until she said so. Awesome.

So he continued to do what he did best. Steal things, sell them, do next to nothing with the money he received, (besides of course, anonymously donating large sums of money that bordered on the obscene, to charity organizations.) A few stolen plane tickets and false passports later, Ezekiel was traveling the world on his own, becoming without doubt, the second greatest international thief in history. The first of course, was off being _royalty (_ he swore he would never get over that).

Then something weirder happened when he was off stealing some super-old dagger and, for the first time, being the target of a thankfully unsuccessful assassination attempt. He met an eccentric man, who saved his life with...something. The same person saved him _again_ from an unsuccessful attempt to steal an old-as-freak dagger, (because he forgot to check for heat sensors, a regret he would live with forever) and somehow ended up, along with three other people he literally had never seen in the entirety of his life, in a giant...library. Suddenly all the seemingly insignificant comments his mother had told him rushed back.

Though he didn't care _too_ much about the library itself, he found out magic was real. And it took every ounce of self control that he did not even know he possessed to _not_ act like a start-struck nerd who lit up like a Christmas tree after receiving a signed Doctor Who poster.

He was thrown into a team of sorts who were working to...well he wasn't really paying attention but it sounded like stealing something of King Arthur's. Yeah. He was totally in.

Then it was becoming part of a super-ultra-secret society (totally cool), who called themselves the Librarians (significantly less cool).

Then it was nearly being killed by a Minotaur.

Finding out he could steal the Apple of Discord without side-effects, after nearly causing a mythological-creature-apocalypse. Again.

And before he knew it, attachment. He was growing fond of...whatever it was he was in.

There was a girl, Cassandra with bright red hair, who reminded him of a girl back in an orphanage whom he adored (though he would _never_ admit this). She apparently was really smart and could calculate _pretty much_ everything imaginable. Then there was a cowboy with an art degree. Yeah, he didn't know how it worked either, but he _did_ know that his mother and this guy, Jake, could go on for hours.

Eve Baird. She, in a word, was scary. She was tough, probably knew at least 7 ways to kill him with her pinky after being blindfolded, with one arm and a leg tied together. The mental image would probably be funny, if it weren't so terrifying. Between him and the other two LiT's (Flynn's thing, go figure) had a running joke about Eve being "Mama Baird". You know, just a random thing that if spoken of in wrong company would result in their immediate and untimely death. She and Flynn were the " _adult"_ adults of the group. Though most times it was just Eve. Flynn didn't seem all that right in the head at (most) times.

Ezekiel clasped his fists to his mouth and pursed his lips in thought.

He tried not to get attached to them, he really did. But unfortunately, they were _quite_ persistent.

"Well. That's the end of simplicity." he spoke as he stood up abruptly.

"What?" came the concerned voice of Flynn.

"Don't tell me you're going insane already, we're barely passed week one." Eve mocked. She held his shoulders and shook him lightly, looking into his eyes as if his sanity would escape any moment.

The Librarians, Guardians, and Mentors were throwing an impromptu party of sorts, celebrating their survival (and kind of a "Farewell old friend" to Excalibur, courtesy of Flynn. Again, go figure.) thus far.

"Nothing. Now _please_ pass the cake over here."

It was chaotic and messy as usual, but it was like having a family again.

Yeah. Maybe a little bit of chaos wasn't so bad.


	3. Jacob Stone Part I

To any other person who knew him in Oklahoma, knew that Jacob Stone had one of the best lives ever. He managed an oil rig, after making a good name for himself in high-school football, and living a lavishly simple life in general. And as far as Jake was concerned, none of them could be more wrong.

Jake grew up in which two things were important: the oil rig, and sheer brawn. Two things that vastly contrasted him and his interests.

One day, he came home with prize that showed off his academic excellence. He expected that like other kid's parents, they would be proud of his accomplishment.

Nope. Never in his life had he seen a man look so disappointed. Never his short life did he see his mother look so disinterested. His father grabbed him by the collar and yelled at him in the face.

"Where did I go wrong with you"

Jake remembered every detail. His father's rough beard, his smokey breath, yellow teeth, and bellowing voice.

The young boy wanted no different from any other; to make his father proud.

A task that became increasingly hard to feel the smallest desire to fulfill, after the man yelled loud enough to make his own mother drop dead with a heart attack, and then walk away uncaring, preferring the company of whiskey. A task that he had no interest in after the man could feel so content with destroying his own family.

The Stone's had 4 children. The eldest son, though fearful of his father, supported Jake's weird passion for literature, history, and art. He by no means shared it, or even understood it. But he supported it. The second son, unfortunately took after his father, teasing, yelling, and roughing up Jake for as long as he could remember, The third, was surprisingly a daughter. As a proud misogynist, his father had nothing to do with her, and she wanted nothing to do with him. The girl was, as his grandfather noted, as kind an compassionate as her mother used to be. Though she was rarely seen at home, as she rather enjoyed being with sane people, she was nice to him. Giving him her old history textbooks, and old photographs she thought he may appreciate.

His father stopped yelling at him when he joined a football team in middle school. In fact, he actually reached out to Jake. By his definition, this meant sitting down with him, opening a can of beer, and setting it in front of him, with no attempt at a health conversation whatsoever.

Jake began struggling in school. Not because he didn't study or anything. It was because he, Jacob Stone, was completely, absolutely, and utterly _bored._ He set his head on his desk, for hours at a time, painfully listening as a teacher drawled on about stuff he had read to the point of near-memorization half a year prior. When Jake decided it wasn't enough, he went entire grades beyond his classmates. All while no one batted an eyelid at him, not even the teachers. They were too busy thinking that it was typical athlete behavior. He tried his best to become the absolute worst. From the brightest start to the dumbest jock.

He hated it. He hated everything about it. He hated the yellow grin that spread across his fathers face when he came home. He hated the knowing look on his brother and sister's faces.

One day he slipped up. A mandatory state-assigned IQ test came through his school. The questions were puzzles, or logic based algorithms that ranged from simple to complex. Jake didn't know how, but he saw artistic patterns he had picked up in a Van Gogh painting he was particularly fond of. Next thing he knew, he was in the principle's office (who, incidentally, happened to be his grandfather), who sat him down and placed a manila envelope on the desk. He saw his grandfather's eyebrows knit together, and his chin resting on his fists, hiding his expression. With courage he got from who knows where, he pulled out the contents of the envelope.

A red "Very Superior Intelligence" was written in capitals, right next to a red 190. Jake tried his signature jock-charm, and asked if he had the wrong person. The principle stared at him in return. Wordlessly, he slid the envelope of the desk, after tucking it's content within. He then tore it to shreds, and threw it in the trash bin next to him. In it's place he left a pamphlet about a late 19th century impressionism club. He signaled for the now-classified super-genius to exit his office, after making a "my lips are sealed" gesture.

Jake didn't stop grinning once the entire day. When asked why, he'd immediately reply with "Extra football practice" and it usually suited the inquirer. That's what made sense, apparently.

This continued through high school. He'd be an athlete, just barely scraping by with the lowest grades by day. But as soon as the sun started setting, he was a super-genius anonymously joining science fairs, history fairs, and of course art exhibits. He even managed to fake a field trip form that allowed him to go to museum. His excuse? Extra football practice. Did anyone buy it? _Yep._

Then his dad got cancer, and a destroyed liver. Was Jake surprised in the slightest? Nope. The man ran through a pack of glorified suicide-sticks every day, and drank hard liquor like water. The oil rig soon began to suffer, and the family barely had any money left.

So who took up the responsibility of managing it? Why of course, the youngest son. Did it make sense? No. So while his father continued to kill himself, Jake dropped out of 12th grade, to manage an oil rig.

He was a bit disappointed at first. Then he grew to accept that his life would would always stay the same as it was: mediocre, dull, and despicable. In whatever spare time he had left, he began writing history articles on subjects ranging from Native American tribes, architecture in the 13 colonies, to Van Gogh (he was _very_ enamored with Van Gogh), and other renaissance artists. Jake even recreated a recipe for a paint that had been lost for _centuries_.

That continued for longer than he was comfortable thinking about. What changed it all? A thrilling tale that included a psychotic katana swinging lady, a barf fight, and Ninjas. In Oklahoma. Throw in a tall special forces agent, and that about summed it up.

He had no idea where he was, but there was one thing he knew.

The _Spear of fricking Destiny_ was _real._ And so was a giant library filled with an unthinkable amount of books, artifacts, and occasional creatures that ranged from old, to _hella-old._

Before he knew it he was nearly killed, at least 3 times (not counting the many times he pissed off a commander of a terrorist-destroying force) a day.

He saw and did things that barely anyone on the planet could. Mainly because _most_ of what he did was _extremely_ illegal.

According to Flynn Carsen (a man who Jake discovered to have an impossible amount of PhD'S), it was a regular occurrence. Personally, Jake didn't mind too much. What, how many people could say that they were rammed into the Royal Family's crown jewels? Very few. It was awesome

His new coworkers weren't _too_ bad either. Except the girl who sold them out. It was _understandable_ , but it still was a total jerk move, as far as Stone was concerned.

The legendary thief who he had read about in countless articles was... somewhat disappointing. He was an Australian kid (which, of course, spoke wonders about his talent) with a snarky attitude.

Jake didn't really trust any of them, which he realized was a silly move. After all, who would believe people who said that he, Jacob Stone, player of The Football, and manager of The Oil Rig, traveled the world through a _magical_ library, recovering _magical_ objects, and saving the world from _magical_ creatures. No one would even believe he was secretly a super-genius who actually went _into_ libraries at all.

Distrust wasn't around for long. He started by trusting Eve, who had already saved his life at least a dozen times, not to mention she kicked _a lot_ of butt. She was, he had to admit, _very_ reliable _._ Next was Flynn. The guy was practically a giant, slightly mentally damaged, teddy bear. He saved their lives a lot, but it was more disqualification that Jake felt less uneasy around. As for Cassandra and Ezekiel, he had no idea where they stood.

Being nothing but mature, civilized, and adult-like, Jake made the most logical decision: procrastinate and ignore all his problems.

Today, the Librarians had an extremely rare day of from their usual shenanigans wish usually accompanied the saving of the world.

So Jake was sitting on a table, with a cup of fruit punch (nothing alcoholic at Cassandra's insistence, he was totally fine with), and a generous-sized slice of cake (again, by Cassandra's insistence, a huge cake was ordered, to be cut into large pieces), surrounded by people who were e very least his friend. He had let his guard completely down for a moment. He told jokes, laughed, and acted silly, just like the rest of them. It was like a childhood he wanted, but could never have.

Perhaps, letting his guard down a few times wasn't the worst.

After all, It brought him a very strange, disheveled family.

Yeah, not half bad.

 **I'm not going to lie, this one was actually pretty tough for me to write, as Jake is kind of the hardest person for me to identify with. Hopefully soon (and maybe with some feedback (hint hint) I can re-write/improve it. Please drop a review if it's not too much of a bother!**


	4. Eve Baird Part 1

To be honest, Eve Baird was not a people person. Except on very rare occasions, when it was required for a job. And even then, she was considerably horrible at it (seriously, even a _man_ who was part of her squad was able to charm  & seduce a Bratva captain, whereas she never could). She _much_ rather preferred judo-flipping terrorists and breaking bones to polite conversation and tea with political leaders.

It started from when she was young. An accident with her mother left her unable to conceive and unwilling to adopt. So Eve became not only a child, but an obsession. Both her parents were unhelpfully overbearing. They catered to her each and every need (not very many), and even things that they _assumed_ wanted (very many).

On perfect day they got it in their heads that their daughter was lonely, having only her parents for company. Another assumption that Eve denied vehemently, and protested valiantly, unfortunately to no avail.

She was put into countless social groups, meeting children of her own age. Unwillingly. She was dragged to her parents (considerably large) family meetings. Unwillingly. She met what she considered to be _far_ too man people in her life. Throughout each gathering, Eve did a few things. They were: Sit, stand, and glare. She was physically repulsive. She ensured she was as unapproachable as possible. She learned quickly learned that her icy persona was extremely effective. Therefore, she adopted it as her main persona. Which got her sent to a ridiculous number of psychologists, for being "emotionally stunted". She never saw the point, as her mother would always yell at them, regardless of their deduction may have been.

Then one day, something sparked inside her.

She was on a picnic, with a few other girls. One girl who was a smidge larger, and perhaps stronger (Though Eve would never know) was being particularly cruel to the group. To say Eve was upset would be a grand understatement. Before she could recall why (which was a complete fabrication solely for melodramatics: Eve knew _exactly_ why), she threw a punch, hitting the girl in the abdomen.

It ended in a very strange fight. The girl, tho larger resorted to pulling hair ans scratching whereas Eve threw punches repeatedly.

That was the day Eve learned something about herself. Something very, very important.

She absolutely _loved_ getting into fights. People reasoned that it was because her parents were far too gentle with her. Eve didn't know, and Eve couldn't have cared less, as she was far too busy _getting into more fights._

She fought pretty much everyone she could. Few girls dared to challenge her, so she decided she'd fight the opposite gender. Never did she lose a fight.

In high school, she joined a fight club of sorts. It seemed rather odd for one to be established in a high school , but it was there nonetheless. So she joined. She fought. And she absolutely _dominated_. By some miracle, Eve Baird never lost a fight.

The aspiring warrior decided, one day that _perhaps_ a bit too many of her fights were won by luck. This fist-swinging, butt-kicking, tough-as-nails girl did not like that at all. She used all her money that she'd earned through means of questionable legality, she acquired a gym membership.

Eve began training herself, pushing her limits ever day. She was pretty sure she could make her average day into a Rocky Balboa montage of greater intensity. By the time she was out of high school she was _scary_ strong. Her intelligence, however was nothing to laugh at either. She attended a mostly-prestigious college on full scholarship, after graduating high school as a valedictorian.

In the town she grew up in, the elder's knew her as Eve Baird: The Only Hardworking Teenager In This Town (usually followed by an expression of "For heavens sake' or "Jesus Christ", but Eve barely cared). The adults knew here as Eve Baird: The Scary Tall Girl Who My Offspring Always Complains About For Some Reason. Her fellow (could be debated) teens knew here as Eve: The Terrifying Girl Who Would Never Cease To Take Apart Literally Anyone Anywhere. The small children knew here as The Girl Who Runs A lot.

She was on a run one day, when she saw at least 5 men dressed in leather jackets and ski-masks, armed with knives (kukris, to be exact. Yeah, Eve had a thing for knives), surrounding a woman carrying some sort of brief case. They were tensed. Eve knew the form anywhere she saw it: a viper getting ready to strike.

Being the impulsive teenager she was (for once), she knew she could _not_ pass up an opportunity like this. With an impromptu battle cry (nothing Xena-like, though), she diverted all of the masked figure's attention to her. She yelled for the woman to get out of her way, she she picked off each man with relative ease. She nearly had _some_ difficulty dodging their blades _,_ as they _did_ wield them with some competence. Fortunately, Eve was better. When she was finished throwing the last man over her shoulder (she was convinced she probably did some extensive damage to his spine, but who cares. That's what you get for going on knife-wielding assault-sprees), she saw the woman looking at her with curious eyes.

That was the story on how she got drafted into a terrorist-hunting organization. The woman said she saw some sort of potential in her, though she was unrefined. It made Eve want to challenge her. In fact, she did. The lady told her that if she survives her training, she'd get her wish, and if she beat her, she'd get her own place as a special agent.

 _That_ was another story, one that involved martial arts, many people (sometimes herself) bruised, and an unholy amounts of push-ups, ultimately resulting in to her rapid progression towards the title "Colonel Eve Baird".

In the field, she saw a lot of things, some of which she wished she hadn't, and some of which she wished she _really_ hadn't. Her coworkers, though not the worst, were scared of her. She had a nagging suspicion that the reason they were not the worst was because they were, in fact, scared of her. She had seen how they harassed other, even less attractive females (this was _before_ she told them off _quite_ thoroughly in some rather scary ways).

She spent many years in the same field, hunting terrorists around the world. Quite successful at it, too. She killed a few with her bare-hands, regardless of how silly it sounded in reports. That's what the other special agents thought of her. Eve Baird: The Woman Who Knew _Too Many_ Ways To Kill A Man With Her Bare Hands.

She left her parents, who still thought she was becoming a fashion designer. One day she was almost tempted to send home a blood-soaked shirt, complete with bullet holes and slashes that she had "designed" on a rather tedious mission, but decided it was too cruel a prank. They weren't winning the world's greatest parents award any time soon, but the were still her parents.

Her squad was sent on a mission to track down and recover a nuclear bomb somewhere in the outskirts of Berlin. There she met the biggest weirdo of her life.

He claimed to be a librarian, who somehow knew how to defuse nuclear bombs (with somewhat sketchy instructions), the exact number of bullets in an AK-47, something about demons and a pearl, which was just about the only part she understood if only vaguely. It took a special kind of crazy to become a librarian, and this man who looked like a manifestation of a Doctor Who episode fit the bill.

Then a library sent her a job application, after she was ordered to stand down. This gave her a fanatic old lady, some kind of weird "magical" library, and an elevator that goes down. Way. down. Like really, _really_ down. And the same guy she met earlier, sparring with...a _magical_ sword? In a _magical library?_

She decided, that just about _everything_ she had learned as far as realism in the world, was promptly thrown out the window and probably was high-fiving NASA somewhere out of the stratosphere.

A list of soon-to-be dead people later, and she found herself in a mess. All because King Arthur couldn't _keep it together_. Sure. It sounded a little bit ludicrous, and frankly outlandish to be blaming _King Arthur_ , but she firmly stood by her accusation.

Aside from a few minuscule shenanigans like bickering, complaining, protesting, breaking into the Vatican, being annoying in general, and stealing from the Royal family, Eve began to trust her new team. In just about every successful mission, trust was essential.

Cassandra Cillian was a sweet girl with a tumor that was ready to kill her an day. Frightfully good at math and science, and as she had recently discovered, baking. She traded her life for Flynn. Questionable at first, Eve was pretty certain she knew where the ginger's loyalty laid.

Jake Stone. Super genius cowboy with an arts degree. Eve filed that into "Things That Worked but Didn't Make Sense", right next to Ninjas in Oklahoma. Jake was fairly adventurous, distrusting (which may or may not be a problem for long), but all in all he was a good kid.

Ezekiel Jones. Master thief. Confrontation of any sorts was not the kid's strong suit. He was resourceful, critical, and practical. She guessed it came with the whole "I can break into the Smithsonian, steal priceless artifacts in 15 minutes and still have time to rob a candy store" thing he had going for him. He began bailing on the them less, so it was a definite plus.

Eve had fun watching the three Librarians-in-training grow close to each other. It was even more fun to watch them try to resist it.. It was fun watching them bond together.

It was _not_ fun to realize that everything she had been entertaining herself with was happening to her. They were off doing things that she admitted were a great deal more dangerous than hunting terrorists, and the life expectancy there was already quite low. It was not fun realizing what attachment meant.

So, Eve was more determined then ever to keep the kids alive, no matter the costs. She disliked kids, siblings, cousins, nieces and nephews and whatnot. But if those three were her's, she would have to admit to like them.

...Fine, she was very fond of them. What can she say, they were all growing on each other. Even Jenkins lost any real conviction behind his grump.

Yesterday it was locating a library lost in space and time itself, tomorrow it might be old, retired Scottish wizards.

But today, they had fun. Cake, fruit punch and laughter. Eve never thought this to be her scene.

But for once, it fit.


	5. Bonus: Jenkins

**Jenkins hated people. There were so many different kinds of people. Nice people, rude people, skilled people, boring people, weird people,** ** _whatever_** **. Jenkins hated all of them. He supposed, that's what around 1500 years of living along and sneering at couples did to a man.**

 **He grew up in a different time. A time of knights, kingdoms, dragons, and Camelot. A very different time entirely. Few things were liked about the world he now found himself living in.**

 **Technological advancements, of course. How could a man loathe the digital age so much when he himself was the one to** ** _start_** **it? Science had come along way. In fact he was able to use regular, plain, ordinary, non-magic-y science to understand magic-y science. To use an expression that the shifty fellow had taught him; How sick is that? Now days, regular, plain, boring humans walked by each other, using objects that if acquired several hundred years ago would cause wars so large the crusades would begin to look like an over-glorified water balloon fight. Jenkins loved the modern world in his own strange way, though he didn't dare venture into It.**

 **Where did it go wrong?** ** _Flynn bloody Carsen._**

 **He should have expected it. He should have seen it. Of course the moment he gets stabbed by Excalibur the peaceful life of scientific intricacy and research he had established for a few centuries would be violently beaten and left for dead.**

 **That day he cursed King Arthur like never before. Seriously, if Arthur, Merlin,** ** _whoever_** **was in charge could have** ** _kept themselves together_** **for at least** ** _seven_** **minutes** ** _none_** **of this would be happening. The Serpent Brotherhood would never have gotten out of the Library, the Crown would be** ** _just a crown_** **(just like in what Jenkins assumed to be, what,** ** _literally every other civilization)_** **and of course there wouldn't be** ** _rampant magic tearing through the world_** **.**

 **And above all else, he, the noble Knight Galahad, master swordsman and man of science extraordinaire, would not be** ** _babysitting a bunch of children with a death wish._** **How did that even work? One day the Librarian crashes through the doors of the Annex, setting up a base, and his guardian forcing him to do a job that he was trying his best to refuse. He was of course,** ** _persuaded,_** **into doing so. He may be a Knight, and one of the greatest of them all, but even he knew that incurring the wrath of a scorned Eve Baird ranged from terrible idea to absolutely suicidal.**

 **In summary, Jenkins now had a significantly greater amount of problems. Added on to his workplace nearly exploding due to his experiments, he now had to deal with clutter, chaos, and nagging. Cowboy, Shifty Fellow, and Annoying Digital Child. Jake, Ezekiel, and Cassandra.**

 **They were, Jenkins had to admit, exceptional kids. Good people with a really, really bad job.**

 **It took copious amounts of courage, willpower, and and overwhelming amount internal ranting for Jenkins to admit he liked the group. They were "quirky".**

 **The cowboy had an extensive, fascinating background in history and art. He was...unusually passionate as Jenkins had gathered. He really wasn't sure what else to call a bar fight revolving around mispronunciation of ancient civilizations and their customs.**

 **The thief. He was a thief. The thief stole stuff. The thief that stole stuff stole a lot off stuff. The stuff that the thief who stole a lot of stuff usually stole was quite valuable, and heavily secured. A valuable resource, but Jenkins had made a mental note to check under the thief's pillow, or his pockets if something of his ever...** ** _vanished._**

 **The last was the happy ginger. She was repulsive. His exact opposite. She was so cheerful it was almost impossible for him, or** ** _anyone_** **for that matter to angst or wallow in misery comfortably. She also was evidently a** ** _fantastic_** **baker With her around, he realized he may never run into a calculative flaw ever again.**

 **Jenkins breathed deeply as he watched the librarians celebrate.**

 **He hated them marginally less then everyone on the planet.**

 **Here's a super short chapter. Took a while to get anything out at all, as lack of feedback kinda killed my motivation. Anyways, the story is, for the most part, complete. I don't feel the need to write a chapter for Flynn because the movies summed him up pretty well. I may or may not add a new section for each the characters in prior chapters, but that depends on if you want me to. Please tell me how I did/what i cn improve. It's super helpful. Thanks in advance.**


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